The Great Pancake Debate: Pourers versus Cutters

I heard this stunning statement recently while eating breakfast (pancakes of course) at a local diner. The guy said it to the waitress, who was clearing his plate and giving his stack of pancakes, which really did have large holes in the middle, a strange look.

So: yet another way to eat pancakes, one I’ve never heard before. And, I’m an expert on the art of eating pancakes. I have a Doctorate of Humane Letters from IHOP.

Here’s what I’ve learned after many years of carb- and syrup-filled, pancake-eating research:

There are two basic types of pancakes eaters: pourers and cutters.

Pourers are the people who: Pour the syrup on their stack of pancakes and then cut and eat a series of pieces of pancake. When they need more syrup, they pour it on the remaining pancakes. This is the way pancakes are meant to be eaten.

Cutters are the people who: Initially cut their stack of pancakes into bite size pieces and try to make every piece exactly the same size. And then they pour on the syrup. They claim they get a better and more even syrup distribution this way.

I first wrote about the Pourers v. Cutters debate years ago, after discovering it at a pancake breakfast at a local fire station.

And then heard from a stack of people who told me all about their unique, odd and fascinating ways to eat pancakes.

James: “I pour the syrup on the side of the plate, away from the pancakes, so they don’t get soggy. Then I cut ‘em up and put just the right amount of syrup on every bite.”

Vance: He puts peanut butter – but only Jif – on top of each pancake, including the pancake on the top of the stack. Then he pours on the syrup. “The mixture of pancakes, syrup and peanut butter is the world’s most perfect combination.”

“Why only Jif?” I asked.

“Because Jif is the creamiest peanut butter, the other kinds will rip off the top of the pancakes.”

Harry: He eats his with fruit spread and no syrup. He prefers raspberry, but apricot will do in a pinch. “That makes it more like a crepe.”

Alan: “The only way to eat pancakes is to pour on the syrup and then put the plate in the microwave. This heats up the syrup. And they have to be chocolate chip pancakes.”

Kathy: Only uses butter because this way they’re “unadulterated by the sickenly sweet slop of syrup.”

The “sickenly sweet slop of syrup.” Now that’s a blog title right there. Even though sickenly isn’t actually a word.

2 thoughts on “The Great Pancake Debate: Pourers versus Cutters”

Ok so this guy I knew from a long time ago ate his pancakes in a way that made me nuts to watch.
He would cut a square. Then, holding the bite size pancake square on the prongs of his fork he would dab a bit of butter on the square with his knife. Then he would dip that bite size piece of pancake in syrup in those little plastic peel off the lid syrup containers and then eat it. It would take him for bloody ever to finish a stack. In fact we would all be done before him and would leave.